After viewing many houses in the Crossgar area of County Down, Marguerite, Ben and Jude finally reached 'Sale Agreed' on 164 Downpatrick Road, Teconnaught. What a cool wee spot this is. (All is not yet finalised but at this point they have agreed to buy the house and the seller has agreed to sell it to them - that is about as accurate as they can be right now but hopefully in 5 or 6 weeks they will be moving in).
Talking of nice houses in the countryside, here's another one ...... well technically it's not a house ..... but it does kind of resemble the White House in Washington. It is of course Stormont where Northern Ireland's Assembly sits. This pic is included to provide a clue as to who Jude may have bumped into on a night out in Belfast recently. Let's just say the person has been in both these buildings and he's probably the most important American in Ireland at this time. Can you guess who it is? Answer later.
'Hey Ben, let's go celebrate getting our new house, let's go get you something new for scooting about the new house in', said his Mama and Dada.
Up until now Ben has been using his great wee car to get around ....... now it was time for another option.
So off to the toy shop they went and here was Ben scooting around the huge toy shop in this cool wee trike. He thought he was just the coolest kid in town while driving this yoke around ...... look at him all one-hand and all.
Unfortunately these days nothing can be bought as one built item (think furniture as well as toys). You lift it off the shelf like this .......
........ and then you find yourself parked on the living room floor like this for the rest of the evening. It's enough to drive a man insane .....
....... so thank goodness for women, they've more patience than men. Here Marguerite took over after listening to Jude moan about it for an hour. Jude did get a fair bit built but Marguerite finished the deal off. And before you knew it ...........
............... Ben Clarke was upright and mobile.
'Quick Mama ....... get me strapped in quick ........ this trike rocks! Ben may have been thinking.
The next day Ben and his auld Dada were scooting around Hamill Park like two mad edjits. For about an hour and a half they dandered and dandered .......
......... and Ben just loved it!
And Ben is getting upright and mobile in more ways than one. Check him out here as he pulled himself up on his own two feet and clung onto the edge of his cot. Suppose that time has arrived then. What time? The time when you just can't take your eyes off him!!!
And just when Marguerite and Jude were beginning to think, 'when is Ben going to begin to crawl', well ...........
........... just like that he began crawling. Here he is parked on the floor in his room and moments later ......
......... he's made it over to here. This was one of those fantastic days ....... a milestone ....... a day to run and get the camera and take a few pics.
What was I saying about being upright and mobile? Well here he goes again ........ and this time he's standing up driving the car!!
A couple of days later and Marguerite is shopping ....... well she's kind off 'windy shappin' as folk say in Belfast ....... she's not actually buying anything but is just out for a nosey to see what is on the market, what's in the 'windy' like . You see she is doing a lot of planning in her head about how to fix up the new house. She is particularly fond of this style it has to be said. She calls it 'New England' style. Wha?
Oh yeah ..... the house ........ well as you can see the house is in a country setting and it is as far as possible removed from what Marguerite and Jude are used to right now, and have been used to for years. Well Jude lived in the country until he was 20 years old ..... but that's a right while ago now mind .... and sure he couldn't be more excited to get back.
And Marguerite has always lived in a city having lived in Belfast all her life apart from the 4 1/2 years she was in Boston. Wait ..... have I mentioned that before??
Ehh .... anyway ....... she is really excited about the move to the country and just can't wait to get there. Jude keeps telling her she will need to buy a pair of wellies, for feeding the hens like, but Marguerite insists she will just not be seen in wellies ....... not at all.
A great thing about the countryside is there are always some great wee spots hidden away like little treasure troves just around this corner or that corner ........ like Paddy's Barn in Saul for example. It's just a couple of mile down the road ....... but unlike in the city, that equates to being just around the corner while in the countryside!!
Marguerite and Ben having a laugh in Paddy's Barn.
Paddy's Barn is one of those great, mad Irish pubs with bikes and things hanging from the ceiling. Only in Ireland do ye get bikes and things hanging from the ceiling folks!!!!Here Ben and his granda Michael have a good auld laugh.
Today after visiting the new house, Marguerite, Ben, Michael and Jude visited Paddy's Barn.
Ben (with one sock on and one sock off) and Marguerite. 
Another day and another furniture shop!! This time Marguerite and Ben check out this multi-coloured, cool and artsy number.
And here is a random pic of Ben practicising his fancy footwork on his ball. Cool, wha?Ok ....... did you guess who Jude bumped into on a night out in Belfast recently?
It was Richard Hass. Richard Hass is of course the U.S. Diplomat who is over in Belfast trying to sort out some of Northern Ireland's enduring issues. Here he is pictured with Jude, Ronnie (Executive Director at the Irish International Immigrant Center in Boston) and three students from Northeastern University in Boston who are in Belfast on University work placements. This meeting took place in the John Hewitt pub in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter.
So there you have it ......... all going well this will be their new home ........
............... maybe they'll be in by Christmas!
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